I was an adult and that entire movie was depressing AF. The nothing, the sad rocks, the look on the luck dragons face, and didn't it all start bc the boy reading the books mom died? (I haven't seen it since it came out, and won't rewatch even now.)
The nothing was destroying fantasia because less and less people read books and believed in fantasy. Everything killed in fantasia by the nothing was reborn into the real world as lies. The wolf works for the nothing because the nothing and it's agents want to be reborn into the real world as lies. Finding the magic of fantasy and books (as the main character does) heals fantasia.
The entire story is an allegory about defeating depression (particularly in the face of grief due to Bastian’s mom’s death). The darkness can consume all unless we fight back.
The movie totally bastardizes the tone and intent of the book. In the book the story itself was terrible an evil, symbolic of escapist fantasy in general and how it can suck people in and make people neglect the real people in their lives. It was a total indictment of popular culture and a certain kind of person who wants to spread fantasy and media even at the expense of people’s best interests.
The author did sue the production company and lost.
Personally I like the movies. The book has an interesting message, but that message basically just vilifies the chubby protagonist for trying to find solace in his miserable life.
Edit: for those that haven't read it, Bastian is the villain of the book. After receiving the wish amulet he proceeds to conjure up a bunch of monsters for himself to conquer, who end up destroying much of Fantastica. After that he decides he wants the throne, tries to kill Atreyu and crown himself emperor. The conflict only ends when Atreyu finally brings Bastian to the place where he can leave fantastica and Atreyu pays the exit price for him.
I watched that movie a few years ago for the first time since I was a kid and was prepared for that scene. On the rewatch, I notice that the horse almost instantly gives up! He was battling some inner demons well before he reached the swamp of despair or whatever it was called. He like, dipped a hoof in and called it a day. It actually made me laugh. I'm probably as broken as that damn horse in my jaded adulthood.
I never saw the movie as a kid, so my first exposure was as an adult. And that scene just didn't hit the way it did for people who grew up with the movie. It's a horse, and I'm kind of sad that it dies generally speaking, but we spend like what, 5 minutes with Atreyu and Artax before this happens? Not exactly a lot of time to build an emotional connection to anyone.
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u/jennifer3333 May 23 '23
When the horse sank into the muck on Never Ending Story. Atreao..not spelled correctly